Society Programmed Your Mind. Here’s How to Break Free.

BY SOFO ARCHON

What do a hooligan, a kamikaze, and a racist have in common?

They don’t use their brains much. By that, I mean they don’t know how to think—or, more precisely, they don’t know how to think critically. But it’s not just them. In fact, most people aren’t much different when it comes to this.

Sure, we all have our thoughts, and over the years have formed certain opinions. But how many of those opinions are merely beliefs resulting from unconscious social conditioning, and how many of them are based on our own understanding? And, of course, we know a lot of things, but how much of our knowledge comes from personal experience, and how much from parrot-like learning?

From almost the day we are born, society conditions us not to think for ourselves. Take school, for example—an institution that is supposed to help children develop their intellect, yet often does the opposite.

School confines children to a classroom for roughly eight hours a day, nearly every day, for about twelve years. During this time, they are forced to learn things they may not enjoy, obey authority unquestioningly, accept what they are taught without critique. As Pink Floyd famously put it several decades ago, school conditions children to become “another brick in the wall.”

The official 1982 video clip of Pink Floyd’s Another Brick in the Wall.

I know I’m generalizing—schools aren’t all the same. But the reality is that in most parts of the world, school is not a place where critical thinking is encouraged; on the contrary, it is often suppressed or simply ignored. Naturally, it atrophies and weakens, much like a muscle that isn’t exercised.

Observe the people around you, and you’ll likely notice the consequences of our educational system. Most live unconsciously, unaware of why they think or behave as they do. They accept without question whatever the media presents as truth. They follow religious dogmas without second thought. They obey political leaders without the slightest resistance. I could list more examples, but these should suffice.

As a result of our social conditioning, corporations exploit our emotional insecurities to sell us their products, turning us into competitors over who has more. Journalists manipulate us with propaganda through the mainstream media, reducing us to mindless puppets. Religious leaders of all faiths gain power by promising heaven in the afterlife, dividing people into in-groups and out-groups that fight in the name of God. Politicians gain power by promising heaven on Earth, similarly splitting people into opposing teams.

If we recognize these negative consequences and are truly willing to change our way of living for the benefit of ourselves and the world, we need the courage to break free the from herd mentality and start thinking for ourselves—and the sooner we do, the better. Of course, that’s easier said than done, since social conditioning runs deep and influences us in ways we often don’t even recognize. Yet with conscious, persistent effort, it is definitely possible.

Below are some basic, practical steps you can start taking right now.

Question your beliefs, no matter how much you cherish them.

To break free from society’s brainwashing, the first and most crucial step is to question any beliefs you have unconsciously absorbed from society. Beliefs can impose all kinds of limitations on life, such as irrational fears or the sense that you must live according to what’s right for someone else rather than for yourself.

No matter how strongly you may cherish a belief, ask yourself these questions:

• “Where did this belief come from?”
• “Is there any valid reason for holding it?”
• “Is it limiting me in any way, or is it enhancing the quality of my life?”

Take, for example, religious beliefs. If you consider yourself religious and believe that the dogma of your faith is the only true and correct one—and that those who have different beliefs are evil and doomed to hell—ask yourself:

• “What is the logical basis for holding these beliefs?”
• “Did I reach these beliefs through my own understanding, or did I unconsciously accept them as truth in childhood?”
• “Do these beliefs serve my happiness, or do they contribute to my suffering?”

These are important questions to ask about any beliefs you hold dearly—whether in religion, philosophy, politics, economics, or any other field of knowledge. By doing so, you’ll begin to decondition yourself from negative social programming, allowing you to grow in understanding, absorb new information, and make wiser choices. In addition, this practice will help you better understand the beliefs of others without judging them from a fixed mindset.

Doubt is the beginning of wisdom.

Remember: Doubting what you think you know is a sign of intelligence, and only those courageous enough to do so can walk the path of wisdom.

Rebel against authority and accept responsibility for your life.

For many of us, it has become a habit to let others tell us what to think and how to behave. We don’t think for ourselves—instead, we hand over responsibility for our lives to others. It seems we allow others to dictate how we live because we don’t want to bear the burden of responsibility ourselves—so we shift it onto them.

Taking responsibility for your life can be challenging, because it requires thinking deeply, making important decisions, and facing failure when choices go wrong. To avoid this, many of us let others—politicians, religious leaders, or self-proclaimed saviors—make those decisions for us. Then we blame them for nearly everything that goes wrong in our lives, insisting it’s entirely their fault, without pausing to consider that the responsibility might actually be ours.

If you want to escape the matrix of social conditioning and reclaim your freedom, you need to stop letting others control you like a mindless automaton and instead start being responsible for your life. This might be a difficult thing to do, yet it’s the only way to choose your own path in life.

Seek truth, regardless of how arduous that might be.

If you’ve questioned your beliefs, you’ve likely realized that most of them were imposed by society and don’t truly reflect your personal experiences or understanding. While this process greatly helps develop critical thinking skills and break down the walls of social conditioning, it doesn’t always answer the deeper question of whether those beliefs are actually true. To find out, we must seek truth through our own research.

Let’s take drug addiction as an example. Social conditioning has led most of us to believe that drugs themselves cause addiction—a belief we’ve held since early childhood, yet rarely stop to question. If we do some basic research, however, we find that while drugs can play a significant role in addiction, they are not the root cause; rather, drug use is a symptom of addiction. Health experts have identified emotional trauma as the underlying cause of many forms of addiction, whether it involves drugs, pornography, video games, or gambling. (If this is new to you, and you want to learn more about the nature of addiction, read this article.)

The problem is that most people don’t like to think for themselves or do their own research. One reason is that it can feel exhausting and unenjoyable. Another is that it threatens their worldview. When people cling to beliefs that aren’t grounded in critical thinking or evidence, research might prove them wrong—so many simply avoid seeking the truth, fearing it will shatter their convictions. As a result, they live in ignorance while believing they know, unable to grow wiser and unconsciously spreading falsehoods or half-truths.

If you are a seeker of wisdom, you must actively pursue the truth, no matter how challenging it may be. You will need to think deeply and educate yourself—reading books, watching documentaries, listening to talks, engaging in discussions, or using any tools that expand your perspective on reality. Most importantly, you must be willing to accept the truth when you encounter it, even if it contradicts your long-held beliefs.

The journey to truth can be challenging at times, but it is unquestionably worth taking. Image credit: Pawel Kuczynski

By questioning your beliefs, seeking truth, and escaping the herd mentality, you can free your mind from unconscious programming. In doing so, you’ll gain a deeper understanding of yourself and the world around you, and take true responsibility for your life—without being easily fooled, exploited, or manipulated.

Further reading:

• Escaping the Matrix: 8 Ways to Deprogram Yourself